Statement: use of British passports in Dubai murder

24 March 2010

Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, reported to the House on the investigation by the UK Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) into the use of counterfeit British passports in the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai on 19 January.

Mr Miliband reported that as the Dubai operation had been a very sophisticated one, using high-quality forgeries, the British Government had judged it highly likely that they had been created by a state intelligence service.

Taking that together with other inquiries, and the link to Israel established by SOCA, the Government had concluded that there were compelling reasons to believe that Israel was responsible for the misuse of British passports.